Lukestar :: Lake Toba [who knew Norway was so emo?]

Sounds Like: the farther north you go the more constricted your voice becomes; Santa sings in the boys' choir.

RIYL: Pedro the Lion, The Thrills, Band of Horses, rearranging the furniture because it's Tuesday

Personal Response: While Norwegian band Lukestar is not breaking any ground, they're far from tired. Within the signature pop staccato riffs and big chords there lies comfort in the familiar. Honest and unrepetitive (so long as you don't count refrains as repetitions), Lake Toba belongs on the playlist for your next indie/emo dance party--just be careful trying to sing along. Front-man Truls's vocals take falsetto to new heights, which is tricky for me because I'm a guy who likes to sing along (although recently I've been relegated to drum solos and spoken word while everyone else rocks out to The Darkness . . . bastards). Lukestar is touring the US in the Spring, and will also be at SXSW.

Be sure to hop over to Duck & Cover Video to see what happens with Lukestar wakes up in an empty field. It's exactly what you think would happen--they jam!

Band :: Lukestar

Album :: Lake Toba

Song :: White Shade

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The Racoon Wedding :: Gather Gather Bones/Rattle Rattle Truth

Download The Paper Boy from The Racoon Wedding's album, Gather Gather Bones/Rattle Rattle Truth Sounds Like : they're gonna rip your ribcage out and find your heart RIYL : White Rabbits, Portugal. The Man, Fanfarlo, Rolling Stones ala Beggar's Banquet From the Press Release : Forming from the ashes of Vermicious Knid, and authoring songs in the basement of the all ages not-for-profit art space they own in a nook of the city’s forgotten downtown, frontman Tim Ford and company boast a sense of loyalty to their community that few other bands share. On their debut LP, Gather Gather Bones/Rattle Rattle Truth , issued this October via their own Ford Plant Recordings Co., the band enlisted the help of engineer Leon Taheny (of the Final Fantasy recording credit) and hammered out a record that teems with the spirit of long-forgotten roots music. It’s indebted to the history of mighty back porch music: unbridled, unedited, beautifully intense.

Odd Stories in the World of Music

As it's Friday, we like to round up a few of the stranger music-related stories and share them with our beloved readers. First, there was the TechDirt article about bands (or the labels who represent the bands) who pull their songs from iTunes after said songs have become popular. Apparently, they think it will force people to buy more CDs, which is kind of like selling tires, then shutting all the stores and telling people they have to buy cars to get the tires they want. TechDirt reacts with the appropriate "WTF". Moving on, we find a lovely post about the "peculiar pocket trumpet" from Trumpet Instruments. Finally, there's this: a homemade hurdy gurdy built from circut hacked Furbies, appropriately named the "furby gurdy."

Celebrate Halloween with Peter Squires's New Video, "Witch"

I don't usually do festive or holiday posts. In fact, the closest I get is writing some kind of seasonal bent against a track, and only then when I've had too much coffee and can't find any relation to a song other than what the weather is doing. I just think holiday-themed posts / articles are lazy. But Halloween is different. Why? Because Halloween, to paraphrase Wesley Willis, whips a horse's ass. So when Ryan from The Musebox put me on to Peter Squires a few days ago, I knew it was going into the annals of Duck & Cover (that's right, I said "annals" on the Internets). From the Press Release: Peter’s direct and honest vocal delivery is reminiscent of contemporaries such as Kimya Dawson and Luke Temple. The album is all heart, laid bare for our aural pleasure. Woe Is Me was recorded in Peter Squires’ Brooklyn bedroom and is available on his website for fans to download at no charge. The first video from the album is “Witch” and it was just rele...

Duck & Cover :: Indie rock music writing from Arcade Fire to the Zygotic Minci

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